Hanna: MTV's 'The Paper' could put brains over bods

I faced my reality long ago, and I don't mind making the confession to all: I'm a newspaper geek.

It's a full-blown, all-out love affair with the business and all it encompasses. I came to terms long ago with the fact that when you think in newspaper-speak, you equal newspaper geek.

Hopefully, that's about to change. Thanks to teenagers and MTV, we may be about to return to the cusp of coolness.

The network, now known for its reality shows full of beautiful people doing unimportant things, finally has stepped up to the plate with "The Paper." It's a show set to air next year starring real high school journalists doing what they do best - putting out a school newspaper.

These kids know what they want to be when they grow up. I did, too. I always thought working in a newsroom would be the coolest job ever. My dad brags that the first thing I ever read was a newspaper. I walked through my youth and teens thinking that if I wanted to grow up and truly be accomplished (and impressive), I had to land myself a job in a newsroom. I couldn't wait to be able to let the words, "I'm a reporter" roll off my tongue with an air of confidence that only the job could give me.

It was Lois Lane and "All the President's Men." It was knowing you might know before anyone else knows. It was, it is, and it always will be a profession I'm tickled to death to be a part of.

Above all, I knew as a kid that with a lot of hard work, it was an attainable goal.

But a lot of things have taken the cool out of newspapers today for teens seeking their calling. A lower pay scale. An evolving newsroom with an uncertain, unwritten future. Former New York Times reporter Jayson Blair single-handedly tore down our worth for a while, cutting a wide swath behind him filled with mistrust and cynicism. After Blair, newspapers were left in a place one can liken to the South in Gen. Sherman's aftermath.

Here's hoping these high school kids and MTV can bring it back around. "The Paper" will document the lives of the staff of The Circuit, the newspaper at Cypress Bay High School in Broward County, Fla. Even better news is they plan on doing it in a more classy way than many of the shows MTV has brought us in the past few years.

This is no "Real World," "Laguna Beach" or "The Hills." It will be produced by the network's News and Documentary unit, and the show will not focus intently on the personal issues of these kids, but rather the ambition and brains of these high-schoolers as they gather stories, sell advertising and work together to put out their award-winning newspaper.

But will kids and teens actually watch it? The show is up against big odds. The drama behind this show will lie in high-schoolers gathering a story instead of spreading rumors about their best friend's boyfriend. The visual elements will be held down by average kids doing what they love, not full-blown teen angst hiding behind oversized sunglasses and teeth brighter than the sun.

I have hope. "Laguna Beach" and "The Real World" draw ratings, but I can't help but think that real teens are ready to set their sights and goals on something attainable.

The vast majority of teens never will have what it takes to live in Laguna Beach, Calif., and hang out with the cool kids. They can't afford plastic surgery, and have parents who know they are too young for fake eyelashes and bonded teeth.

But they can be their own version of Lois Lane, Bob Woodward or Carl Bernstein. It's attainable. You don't have to be rich to be smart. You don't have to have the looks of a supermodel to make it. You only have to want it.

That's doable. Here's hoping the cool kids can now encompass a whole new group - those who stand out because they do something with their brains instead of their bank accounts.

Hopefully, the newspaper business can count on a whole new generation of aspiring Lois Lanes. We need that. After all, it is the coolest job ever.